Trilemma, Introduction: Insurance Carriers, Agencies, Adjusters

In this 3-Part Series on the authenticity of asset identity and claims-related media, we will be sharing stories from the field in each of three industry environments –Agency, Company, Adjuster.

It’s no secret that insurance is essentially a financial instrument, an essential cog in the modern economic machine. The idea behind insurance was to pool funds to protect up-front, somewhat risky investments in trans-Atlantic shipping from the new world. If a ship were to go down in a storm, the pool or syndicate would compensate the owner for the value of the loss.

Last week Attestiv was selected for Plug and Play Tech Center’s Insurtech startup program. The rationale for the selection was that the Attestiv technology is an Insurtech solution with “faster and cheaper claims processing, underwriting, and inspections.” Perhaps we can call it the Trilemma – solving three challenges with one solution.

The key is TRUST – the authenticity of original asset identity and claims-related media. Solving the Trilemma requires new technologies working in combination so that the media is captured and transmitted using tamper-proof methods.

In this 3-Part Series, we will be sharing stories from the field in each of the three industry environments. Of course, for compliance reasons, the stories will be shared using hypotheticals.

First, in the context of the Independent Adjuster, as always, time is money – and accuracy is reputation. There’s nothing worse than sitting in your truck following an inspection, struggling through the documentation piece, knowing that other jobs are passing you by because you’re wasting time using inefficient workflows. “There must be a better way.”

Second, Agencies find the most time-consuming aspect of the business is the customer service piece of both underwriting and claims. In establishing the identity and current state of an asset, a slow and inefficient underwriting workflow is problematic on a number of levels, to the point of jeopardizing the client relationship. And a slow and inefficient claims process can not only be costly with regard to loss ratios, but it can also seriously damage the reputation of both the agency and the carrier, especially in a world of social media. “There must be a better way.”

Third, insurance carriers generally agree that there is a 10% claims fraud rate, costing the industry over $40 billion. Fraud often starts at the very beginning of the process, with original underwriting activity insuring fraudulent assets, either with fake media or no media at all. Claims workflows are then based on inaccurate assets to begin with. On the claims side, even when original assets are accurately represented, damage reports are commonly a source of claims fraud. And even when fraud is NOT in play, inaccuracies and resulting over-payments result in profit leaks. “There must be a better way.”

Yes, there is a better way. How can we combine blockchain, artificial intelligence, and API’s to solve this Trilemma?

Stay tuned to this channel in the weeks ahead. We will share stories that we hope will illuminate these issues and companion solutions. Meanwhile, please share your thoughts with us; we’re always interested in new ideas from the field. All boats rise with the tide.